On-track activities for the 72nd annual 12 Hours of Sebring have begun, and the #01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R was fastest in Practice 1.
Renger van der Zande led a Cadillac 1-2 in the Chip Ganassi Racing-run car, which is sporting its one-off Mobil 1 50th Anniversary gold foil livery.
The Dutch driver’s best time was 1:48.279, about half a second up on the best time from the #31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac of defending race winner Jack Aitken. Aitken’s co-driver Tom Blomqvist went off briefly at Cunningham Corner (turn ten) but otherwise, the red #31 Cadillac had no other major issues on the way to the flag.
Nick Tandy was third-quickest in the #6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963, and Brendon Hartley finished fourth in the session in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.
Best of the BMW M Hybrid V8s was the #25 BMW M Team RLL car of Connor de Phillippi in sixth place.
Under warm, sunny skies, the Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63 went out for its first practice session at Sebring. Andrea Caldarelli set a best lap of 1:50.962 in the #63 Lamborghini – 2.6 seconds off the top time in GTP, 1.3 seconds off the next car in class, but still with room to improve.
The #5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche, meanwhile, didn’t set a time after it stopped on its outlap just seconds into the 90-minute practice session, and brought out the only red flag in this opening practice.
Driver Julien Andlauer told IMSA Radio that the Porsche’s combustion engine wouldn’t start after the car left the pits on its electrical power.
The fastest time in LMP2 was set by Mikkel Jensen in the #11 TDS Racing ORECA 07-Gibson, who set a 1:51.342 to lead the class.
He finished ahead of the two United Autosports USA cars, the #22 of Paul di Resta, and the #2 of Ben Hanley.
Unfortunately, Daytona 24 Hour winners Era Motorsport didn’t have a good session. Ryan Dalziel found himself sitting in his car under the hot sun towards as the team and technicians from Gibson Technologies attempted to resolve an engine issue on the #18 ORECA. The car didn’t set a lap time.
Another of the Mobil 1 anniversary cars, the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, went fastest in GTD Pro. The top time was a 2:00.202 set by Jack Hawksworth. Daniel Serra was less than a tenth away in the #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3.
Laurin Heinrich went third-fastest in the #77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R. Oliver Jarvis’ #9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren GT3 Evo stopped on track with less than a minute to go in the session.
Vasser Sullivan set the top time in both GT classes after Parker Thompson led GTD in his #12 Lexus. Thompson’s best was a 2:00.666 – and all of the best times of Practice 1 were set relatively early on, as teams then went to work on race simulations.
Mikaël Grenier was second-quickest in GTD aboard the #32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3; Antonio Fuoco was third in the #47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari.
Practice 2 for the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship begins at 3:05 PM EDT (local time).
Feature image © Michelin Racing USA; additional images © Jack Webster / Dailysportscar.com
